ICPJ called for the release of Farid Mehralizadeh and other journalists

The International Committee to Protect Journalists (ICPJ) has called for the immediate release of economist and journalist Farid Mehralizadeh, arrested in Azerbaijan in the 'Abzas Media case', and all other unjustly imprisoned media representatives.

‘The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Azerbaijani authorities to immediately release, detained since May of this year on currency smuggling charges, Farid Mehralizadeh, an economist and journalist for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Azerbaijani service funded by the U.S. Congress,’ the ICPJ statement reads.

On 30 October, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty issued a statement calling for the release of Mehralizadeh, whose work for the outlet was published without identifying the source for his safety,’ ICPJ notes.

‘As Azerbaijan, where at least 15 journalists face potentially lengthy prison sentences, prepares to host the UN climate change conference COP29, Mehralizadeh's case demonstrates once again how ridiculously vulnerable those who hold critical views can be to ongoing repression in this country,’ said Gulnoza Said, iCPJ's Europe and Central Asia programme coordinator. ‘The Azerbaijani government should face international censure if it does not release Mehralizadeh and all other unjustly imprisoned journalists before COP29,’ she added.

On 30 May, plainclothes law enforcement officers seized Mehralizadeh on the streets of the capital Baku, placing a bag over his head and forcing him into a car. The enforcers also confiscated his computer, mobile phones and car from his home, CPJ recalls.

On 1 June, a court in Baku remanded Mehralizadeh in custody as part of a currency smuggling case against the anti-corruption investigative publication Abzas Media, whose six journalists remain in prison awaiting trial. Both Abzas Media and Mehralizadeh denied that he worked for the publication.

Mehralizadeh covered economic topics for 'Radio Azadliq', a radio station blocked in Azerbaijan and operating out of exile since 2014. His wife, Nargiz Mukhtarova, told ICPJ that she believes he was detained for his journalistic activities and interviews with independent media outlets in which he criticised government policies.

In August, the authorities filed seven new economic offence charges against Mehralizadeh and the 'Abzas Media' journalists, which could result in up to 12 years of imprisonment.

They are among 14 Azerbaijani journalists accused of allegedly receiving Western donor funding in the year leading up to Azerbaijan's COP29, amid deteriorating relations between Azerbaijan and the West. Two of the journalists were released on bail pending trial, while columnist Bahruz Samedov remains in pre-trial detention on treason charges, ICPJ said in a statement.